November 14, 2006

Urban Outfitters, Swiss Colony / Durdy Looks, and Other Tidbits

The Motely Fool shares information about Urban Outfitters and their most recent quarterly results. Direct-to-consumer sales increased seventeen percent, not a huge number, given the evolution of e-commerce. A seven percent increase in sales was offset by a seven percent decrease in profit, largely caused by significantly lower gross margins. Another Motley Fool article illustrates a ten percent drop in comp store sales, on top of last year's thirteen percent increase. Yikes. Comp inventories were down, suggesting better times ahead.

A colleague forwarded me information about a new brand from Swiss Colony called Durdy Looks. Will the Monroe, Wisconsin purveyor of cheeses and meats leverage its customer file for prospecting of this trendy brand?

In other news:

Need rough demographic information about a competitor? Try Quantcast. They have a mathematical algorithm that estimates metrics like age, income, ethnicity, and education of your visitors. The tool seems to work for larger companies.

Uber-blogger John Battelle has a neat graph depicting internet advertising revenue. I love looking at the internet bubble, from mid 1999 to early 2001. Take that bubble out of the graph, and you have a reasonable and almost linear increase.

Kevin Hillstrom

Kevin Hillstrom, President, MineThatData

Kevin is President of MineThatData, a consultancy that helps CEOs understand the complex relationship between Customers, Advertising, Products, Brands, and Channels. Kevin supports a diverse set of clients, including internet startups, thirty million dollar catalog merchants, international brands, and billion dollar multichannel retailers. Kevin is frequently quoted in the mainstream media, including the New York Times, Boston Globe, and Forbes Magazine.

Prior to founding MineThatData, Kevin held various roles at leading multichannel brands, including Vice President of Database Marketing at Nordstrom, Director of Circulation at Eddie Bauer, and Manager of Analytical Services at Lands' End.

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